John G. Sargent

John Garibaldi Sargent (October 13, 1860 – March 5, 1939) was an American lawyer and government official. He served as United States Attorney General during the administration of President Calvin Coolidge.

For other people with the same name, see John Sargent (disambiguation).
John Sargent
53rd United States Attorney General
In office
March 7, 1925 – March 4, 1929
PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byHarlan Stone
Succeeded byWilliam Mitchell
Attorney General of Vermont
In office
October 8, 1908 – October 3, 1912
GovernorGeorge H. Prouty
John A. Mead
Preceded byClarke C. Fitts
Succeeded byRufus E. Brown
Personal details
Born
John Garibaldi Sargent

(1860-10-13)October 13, 1860
Ludlow, Vermont, U.S.
DiedMarch 5, 1939(1939-03-05) (aged 78)
Ludlow, Vermont, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Gordon
Children1
EducationTufts University (BA)

Biography

John G. Sargent was born in Ludlow, Vermont on October 13, 1860, the son of John Henmon Sargent and Ann Eliza Hanley.[1] He graduated from Black River Academy, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts College in 1887.[2][3] Sargent was married to the former Mary Lorraine Gordon on August 4, 1887.[4] They had a daughter, Gladys Gordon Sargent.[5]

Sargent studied law at a firm in Ludlow, was admitted to the bar in 1890, and became a partner in the firm of William W. Stickney, a cousin of Calvin Coolidge.[6] Among the prospective attorneys who studied under Sargent and Stickney were Julius A. Willcox, who later served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court,[7] and Joseph F. Radigan, who served as Vermont's United States Attorney from 1961 to 1969.[8]

In addition to practicing law, Sargent was active in the insurance business, served as President of the Ludlow Savings Bank, and was a member of the board of directors of several railroads and other corporations.[9][10][11]

A Republican, he served as Windsor County State's Attorney from 1898 to 1900.[12] Sargent was Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) for Stickney during Stickney's term as Governor of Vermont from 1900 to 1902.[13]

From 1908 to 1912 Sargent was Vermont Attorney General.[14] In 1912, Sargent received an honorary master's degree from Tufts.[15][16]

In 1925, President Coolidge's nominee for Attorney General, Charles B. Warren, was rejected by the United States Senate.[17] Coolidge then nominated Sargent, whom he had known since childhood.[18] Sargent was confirmed unanimously, and served until March 4, 1929.[19][20]

After the leaving office, Sargent returned to practicing law; he brought into the firm as a partner Paul A. Chase, who had served as his special assistant while he was U.S. Attorney General.[21] He was also Chairman of the Vermont Commission on Uniform State Laws, and a trustee of the Black River Academy.[22][23]

Sargent died in Ludlow on March 5, 1939, and was buried at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Ludlow, Vermont.[24]

John G. Sargent's honors included honorary LL.D. degrees from Tufts, Norwich University, Middlebury College, and Dartmouth College.[25]

References
  1. Volney Sewall Fulham, The Fulham Genealogy, 1910, page 260
  2. E. Thompson Company, Law Notes, Volume 29, 1925, page 16
  3. Funk & Wagnalls, The Literary Digest, Volume 75, 1925, page 44
  4. William Henry Smith, History of the Cabinet of the United States of America, 1925, pages 355-356
  5. Robert I. Vexler, The Vice-Presidents and Cabinet Members, Volume 2, 1975, page 544
  6. James Terry White, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 25, 1967, page 337
  7. Bigelow, Walter J. (1919). Vermont, Its Government. Montpelier, VT: Historical Publishing Company. p. 138.
  8. "Radigan Out for House". Rutland Herald. Rutland, VT. July 25, 1956. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Vexler, The Vice-Presidents and Cabinet Members
  10. Standard Publishing, The Standard
  11. Boston and Maine Railroad, Annual Report, 1919, page 4
  12. William Richard Cutter, American Biography: A New Cyclopedia, Volume 24, 1926, page 137
  13. Robert Sobel, Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1989, 1990, page 320
  14. Vermont Attorney General, Past Vermont Attorneys General Archived 2012-05-19 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved January 31, 2014
  15. Vermont Bar Association, Report of Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, Volume 33, 1939, page 39
  16. The Green Bag magazine, The Academic Roll of Honor, July 1912, page 375
  17. Joseph Pratt Harris, The Advice and Consent of the Senate, 1953, page 260
  18. Federal Writers' Project, Vermont; a Guide to the Green Mountain State, 1934, page 255
  19. Meenekshi Bose, Rosanna Perotti, editors, From Cold War to New World Order: The Foreign Policy of George H.W. Bush, 2002, page 373
  20. Phyllis Raybin Emert, Attorneys General: Enforcing the Law, 2005, page 155
  21. "Chase Leaves Office of Attorney General to Join Sargent Firm". Hartford Courant. Hartford, VT. Associated Press. July 2, 1930. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. Standard Publishing, The Standard, Volume 124, 1939, page 292
  23. U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Record, 1929, page 3817
  24. Newsweek magazine, Deaths: John G. Sargent, Volume 13, 1939, page 57
  25. George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, editors, The American Mercury, Volume 12, 1927, page 477
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